The Emperor (18 page)

Héloïse travelled up to London post in great comfort,
and was received not only deferentially but almost tearfully by the magnificent Hawkins in the great hall of Chelmsford
House. She had barely had time to look about her, when
cousin Charles arrived, took both her hands, muttered
something incoherent, and embraced her warmly.

‘
Thank God you are safe! Thank God you are come
home!' was all he could say for quite a while. Later she sat
in the blue saloon, looking round with satisfaction at the
furnishings and pictures she remembered so well, and which
had not been changed by the new mistress, telling her story
to Charles while the new mistress listened in absorbed
silence.

Though Héloïse had been as amazed as everyone else at
the news that Charles, who had loved Flora wholeheartedly,
had married again so soon, she liked the new Lady Chelms
ford immediately. Madame, she saw, was almost frivolously
pretty on the outside, but very plain and sensible on the
inside, the sort of young woman who would make a good
housewife if forced to live on a restricted income, who
would find ways to dress herself prettily out of whatever
came to hand, and who would cope without fuss with any
emergency which arose. She was also, evidently, very much
in love with Monsieur le Comte, which pleased Héloïse, for
though it was perfectly respectable and praiseworthy for a
young woman to make the best match she could in worldly
terms, Héloïse had suffered enough misery in her own
marriage to wish everyone to marry for love if they could.

 
It was harder to gauge Charles's feelings. He seemed to Héloïse to have aged ten years since she last saw him. His
face was heavily lined, and his bearing and movements were
no longer those of a young man. When he spoke to or
looked at his young wife, his expression softened with affec
tion; but he seemed more often absent in mind, and then his
features settled into lines of sadness.

When her tale was told, it was Roberta who spoke.

‘
What will you do now?' she asked. 'I don't mean
immediately – I hope you will consider Chelmsford House
as your home for the present, and stay as long as you need to. But for the future?'

‘I thought that I should like to get myself a small house –
something comfortable, and just big enough for Marie and
me, and to have room for a friend or two to come and stay,'
Héloïse said. 'Have I enough money for that, cousin
Charles?’

Charles smiled. 'I think you will find your income enough
to live on comfortably for the rest of your life, provided you
are sensible. A great deal of money came through from your
father by various routes, and I have it all safely.invested in
the Funds for you; quite apart from the furniture. You will
want a house in London, I suppose?'

‘No, cousin, I think not. London has unhappy memories for me, and though I shall always think of you with gratitude
and affection, I think I should wish to be near my aunt
Jemima. I should like a house in Yorkshire.’

Roberta looked at Charles. 'My lord, Shawes is without a
tenant at the moment. Would you not consider letting
Shawes to Lady Strathord? It is always better for a house to be inhabited.’

Héloïse did not wait for Charles to answer. 'Oh, but
Shawes is a great deal too big for one person, Madame, and
also, I think too close to Morland Place. I should wish to be near, but not too near.’

Roberta nodded. 'Yes, I understand. Well, until you are settled, I hope you will stay here, and be comfortable. You must have a great deal of shopping to do.'

‘
Yes, do stay,' Charles said, 'and I will have my agent
look about for something suitable for you in Yorkshire. Andnow, my dear cousin, I am sure you would like to see the furniture I have been keeping for you. My dear,' to his wife,
‘there is no occasion for you to stir. We shall rejoin you
shortly.’

It was all stored in one of the rarely-used bedrooms at the far end of the house, and when Charles unlocked the
door, Héloïse could only stare in silence.

‘I hope you will find it has not suffered too much from its long journey and longer confinement,' Charles said. 'It came
under licence from the French Ministry of the Interior, and
by a very roundabout route. I suppose your father had
contacts within the ministry?'

‘He was employed by it, to auction the royal treasures,'
^Héloïse
said. 'Some of these things must be from the
auctions – those chairs, for instance, I do not recognize
them. Oh, but there is my bed, my own bed from my house
in Paris! And the chaise-longue from my boudoir – how
sadly the brocade is stained! And, oh, cousin Charles, my
bonheur-du-jour,
with the Sevres medallions!'

‘
Oh yes, the writing-desk,' Charles said with interest. 'It
is a very handsome piece.'

‘It also was in my private room. Papa bought it from one
of the dukes he helped to escape. It was made for the
Queen, when she was expected to visit, but she never came.
Oh, how many times have I sat there to write a letter, or my journal!' She ran a loving hand over it urface.

Charles snapped his fingers and exclaimed, 'Good God, what a terrible thing! I had quite forgot – my dear, there is a
letter which came with the furniture, I suppose from your
father. I put it in the drawer of the desk for safety. Wait, let
me get it for you. You must forgive me for not remembering
it sooner.’

He placed the letter in her hand. Héloïse looked down at
it, her face very pale. It was Papa's handwriting, though the
direction was hastily scrawled, and the outer wrapping,
sealed several times, was much stained from its long and tortuous journey. With unsteady fingers she opened it, and
read his last words to her. He had died on the guillotine
almost four years ago.

‘My dearest little girl, my Marmoset,' it said, 'they are
coming to arrest me - I expect them every moment. Forgive
me, child, but 1 am grown too tired to run any longer. I
don't doubt that when they take me, it will be the end, but I
find at the last that I am a Frenchman, and I cannot face the
thought of being uprooted. You are young enough to begin
again in another country, though it may be hard, for I know
how tenacious your heart is, and how you will mourn
France. I hope this letter may reach you; if it is taken, I hope
those who intercept it will have pity, and not prevent a
father from taking his last farewell of his child. God bless
you, Marmoset, my only treasure. I wish you happiness
always. Remember me.’

She looked up, her vision blurred by tears, and in that
moment her father seemed very close to her, and she
remembered his face and his voice as clearly as if she had
parted from him only yesterday. Cousin Charles was
speaking to her, but she could not distinguish his words, and
at last he had to put his arm around her shoulders and lead
her away.

*

A visit to Upper Grosvenor Street was paid on the following
day, and Héloïse received more embraces, told her story
again, and was invited by the open-hearted Lucy to make
her home permanently with the Aylesburys.

‘
We already have Mary and her baby, and one more
won't be any trouble. Do, if you would like it! It would be
very good fun.’

Héloïse explained again her intention to take a small
house in Yorkshire. Mrs Haworth only looked her concern,
but Lucy voiced it.

‘
Is that wise? I mean - forgive me, cousin - but, would it
not be better for both of you if you were out of temptation's
way?'

‘
Dear Lucy, ever tactful,' Charles murmured, and Lucy
looked rebellious.

‘
We are all family - and Héloïse knows I'm only
concerned for her.'

‘
Of course,' Héloïse agreed. 'But I wish to be near
enough to my aunt Jemima for her to visit me - I do not
 
think it would be wise for me to visit often at Morland
Place. She is like a mother to me now, you see,' she
explained anxiously.

‘
But you will be very lonely, living all alone in York
shire,' Lucy went on. 'For I don't suppose Mother will be
able to visit you every week, with all she has to do on the
estate. How will you occupy your time? You will be bored,
too, with nothing to do, when you have been used to
working.'

‘
I have considered that,' Héloïse said, 'and I thought I
might occupy myself with writing a history of the revolution
in Paris. I was at the centre of things, you know, and Papa
explained things to me that perhaps are not generally
known. I think it might interest people to know what really
happened.'

‘
Excellent idea,' Mary said enthusiastically. 'There are
several memoirs about at the moment, but most of them
seem to have been written by people who left before the
most important events, or who had only the vaguest idea of
why they were happening. I should very much like to read
what you write, cousin.’

Héloïse smiled. 'And perhaps I may ask you to correct
my English when it is done, for I do not yet speak it
perfectly, I think.'

‘
Well, if you are determined to go to Yorkshire, I
suppose we must make the best of it,' Lucy said. 'But there
is no need for you to hurry away. You must have enough
things to do in London to keep you until the Season begins, and then you won't want to go away. There is no need to go
to Yorkshire until the summer, I'm sure.'

‘
If you do not go until the summer,' Roberta said in her
soft voice, 'perhaps my lord and I might go to Shawes, and
then you might stay with us until you find the house you
like.’

*

Shortly after
Hé
lolse's arrival, the Chelmsford household
received another addition, when Flora's son Jack arrived in
London. His stepfather greeted him affectionately.
‘But to what do we owe this visit, my boy? Not that we
aren't delighted to see you, of course, but I wonder the navy
can spare you at a moment like this.'

‘
I hope it won't have to spare me for long, sir. I came in
the dispatch boat from Cadiz on Admiral Harvey's
recommendation. I'm pleased to be able to tell you that I
have passed my lieutenant's exam, and I have a letter from
him to Their Lordships which I hope will see me made, as
soon as there is a vacancy.'

‘
Well, that is excellent news indeed!' Charles said. 'But I
confess myself a little puzzled. I'm not an expert on naval
matters, but I could not be married to your mother for so
long without knowing one or two things. Am I not correct in
thinking that one needs service of six years to become a
lieutenant?'

‘
That's right, sir - six years at sea, of which two must be
as midshipman,' Jack said cheerfully.

‘And you went to sea in - '93, was it?'

‘
Right again, sir, but my mother had the foresight to
acquire me some book-time: I was on Admiral Harvey's
books long before I went to sea - I was rated A.B. in 1790. 1
have all my certificates here, all in order.’

Charles smiled drily. 'And I presume you will have
thought of a way round the other requirement?'

‘
Oh yes, sir - as to that, there is not the least difficulty in
acquiring a false birth certificate,' said Jack. 'Half a crown to
the porter at the Admiralty will do it. Their Lordships know
all about it, of course, but they never enquire too closely, for
they all have sons and nephews doing the same thing. Why,
I've heard of lads of twelve who have gone up with certifi
cates saying they are twenty! At least I'm only two years
short.’

Charles lifted his hands. 'My dear boy, I was not implying
a criticism. Your ambition does you credit, and I'm sure the
navy will not be the loser by your promotion. But is not Harry with you? I always thought you two were insepar
able.’